Monday, August 28, 2017

Well, it has been a while since I posted. In fact, I just realized I have not posted anything since the TPT conference in Anaheim! I have had such a busy summer! Not only did I present at the conference, but I also was running a summer program for kiddos this summer. After I returned from the conference, I put all my energy having fun with them! We had a wonderful trip to the public library last week, and I think it was a fantastic place to go for a field trip. Our librarian took us in back to see the automated system that they have when books are returned. It was totally amazing how after the bar-codes were scanned, the books came down a conveyor belt, and were sorted into carts for their appropriate book shelves. This is just a small example of the larger system of the library here. Check out this link to see the automation in the main library system of King County, Washington. It is pretty amazing!

Well, my big news is that I have just accepted a job at the private Christian school where I was running the summer program and I will be teaching First Grade this year! I am so happy to be a part of this wonderful school, and can't wait to start the year. I wanted to let my followers know that they may see a shift in some of my focus now that I will be teaching primary instead of middle school.

For obvious reasons, I won't be posting pictures of kids in my classroom, but I may share ideas and I will write about my new challenges and successes changing grade levels.
So, stay tuned...and may you have a great year. We go back to school September 5th!

Friday, June 2, 2017

Did you know that you have to stay hydrated in order to stay focused? No matter what you do, you need to drink water and lots of it. Whether you are teaching a classroom of students, or sitting in front of a computer all day, you need to keep the cells of your body happy and hydrated so they can work.

According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, water is
your body's principal chemical component and makes up about 60 percent of your
body weight.Lack
of water can cause dehydration. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy
and make you tired.

The US News and World Report’s health
coach and fitness expert Yuri
Elkaim
gives us this equation for figuring out how much fluid we need:

“The basic equation for determining this is by
dividing your body weight in half. So, if you weigh 200 pounds, you would need
100 ounces of water per day if you're not doing anything strenuous. If you're
working out, hiking, at a high altitude or outdoors a great deal, you're going
to need to add
to
those 100 ounces.”

Yuri also recommends checking your
urine…yup, he tells us to look at our pee! It should be clear. Not yellow or
orange, folks. If it is, you should drink some more water. If it is brown…go to
the hospital!

You can get some of your water intake
from coffee,
tea, or other drinks, but 60% should be pure water.

If you are exercising and sweating
profusely, Yuri recommends adding half a teaspoon of sea salt to one glass of
water to replace electrolytes. He doesn’t care for sports drinks that are
loaded with artificial colors and flavorings.

So, keep a water bottle with you at all
times.

Also, you need to avoid sugary drinks. Even if you don’t have diabetes, you may
be able to lower your risk of getting it later in life if you cut out the
sugar. Soft drinks and fruit juices are FULL of sugar…see the science
experiment one of our students did this year. She boiled off the liquid to
determine how much sugar was left in different kinds of drinks. The results
were astonishing…for instance:

16 oz. Cola drink 11 tsp

16 oz. Sports drink4.2tsp

16oz.Energy drink 9.2 tsp

According to her research, in the United
States, the average person consumes more than 150 pounds of sugar a year
(almost half a pound a day)! 50 percent of the sugar we consume today comes
from high fructose corn syrup softdrinks, salad dressings, ketchup and
sauces.

Ididnothavediabetes.Mysugarswerestillfine. I tried to figure out what the problem
was, and after lots of research, I zeroed in on aspartame. If you look it up,
all of those problems are symptoms of aspartame poisoning. ( I didn’t have any
idea it was poisonous, did you? Sowhywasitinmydietsoda? )

Iquitdrinkingthedietsodas, and something amazing happened.
Within 3 weeks, all those symptoms wentaway!

What I Drink:

vCoffee
in the morning with 1 pack of either stevia or monk fruit natural sweetener. (
If those are unavailable, I use 1 pack of sugar. INEVER
use artificial sweeteners. I do add milk or cream if I am out at a restaurant.

vWateralldaylong.Ikeepitwithme.
If I run out, it is an excusetogetupandmove, stretch, and get some more water.
Sometimes I will use a water infuser andflavor it with lemonsorstrawberries.
(I appreciate the TPT water infuser bottle I got at last year’s conference!)

vOccasionallyIwillhavesometea
to have something different.

vIalsodrinkasmall
4 oz. juice glassoflowsodiumV-8
juice once a day

I hope this helps remind you to stay hydrated so you can be more productive, no matter what you work at all day long. I will be presenting about keeping fit at the TPT conference in Anaheim, CA this July, and I hope to see you there.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

I know teachers have been so busy with end of the year preparations and the Teacher Appreciation Sale on TPT, either buying or selling, so I know there is not much time to read blogs! Goodness, unless it is a significant giveaway, money saver or time saver, you probably scroll right on by. I hope you have all had a great year, and enjoyed the big TPT sale...my store still remains on sale today in case you missed it.

I am currently getting ready for the TPT conference in July, and very excited to bring to you tips for staying fit and healthy when you work all day in front of a computer. I will be presenting a short mini session sharing with you how I lost a hundred pounds while working full-time as a TPT teacher author. When I was diagnosed in February 2016 with type 2 diabetes and a silent heart attack, I knew I had to make some changes and take some positive steps toward living a healthier life.

At the conference, I am also going to share tips and tricks from other teacher authors on how they manage to stay on top of their health. If you would like to participate, here's what you need to do:

1. Create and design a single page document (portrait orientation) that contains

a short bio

your three best tips for staying healthy

a healthy recipe which you post in your TPT store for free (link to it)

your TPT logo

link to your TPT store

credit to any clip artists you use in designing your page

2. Email me your page with the above information no later than Sunday, May 28th to happyedug8r@outlook.com.

3. I will be sharing the booklet with all conference goers as well as making it into a freebie in my store for all to see. This is a great opportunity for you to share your tips that will help us all stay healthy and a fun way to get your name out there, too. We can all use a healthy recipe book! :)

I am looking forward to the conference, sharing my story, and your best tips and recipes!

Best wishes for success always,

Deborah Hayes

P.S. As always, I like to share a freebie from my store. Here is a cup of kindness card for you to share with others!

Monday, March 20, 2017

It's Spring! I saw daffodils and forsythia blooming today. It's still cold here compared to what we are used to, but we are so happy to see signs of a warm up.

I haven't posted anything since last month...been so busy! Finally getting settled in after moving to Washington state from the southeast GA coast, and stretched thin between posting on all other social media. If you want to keep up with my latest products and ideas, or just follow my personal journey, be sure to follow me on Instagram (happyedugator), Pinterest (happyedugator), Twitter (@happyedug8r) and Facebook (TheHappyEdugator).

I have some exciting news! The TPT conference will be in Anaheim, California this year from 7/17 - 7/19. If you haven't been to a TPT conference, you should really try to go. The wonderful thing about the TPT conference is meeting up with your favorite teacher authors and meeting and networking with new friends. This will be my fourth conference...and I will have the honor of presenting! :) A little more on that below.

I have been to all the conferences so far, and thoroughly enjoyed each one. There is such great positive energy there, and lots of takeaways that you can use in your teaching and in your product creation. Plus, you get to meet our founder Paul, our CEO Adam, and our Director of Seller Happiness Amy, and Elliot, Nicole and Jillian, and so many others from the TPT team that I can't list them all here. Here are a few photos of me with a few celebrities from the TPT stage last year at the Swan and Dolphin Resort in Disney World:

Paul Edelman, TPT Founder

Amy Borrell Berner, Director of Seller Happiness

Adam Freed, TPT CEO

Dee Dee Wills and Deanna Jump, well-known successful teacher authors

Elliot Goodman, Team TPT!

This year's conference will be at the Hilton in Anaheim, right near DisneyLand!

and I have been invited to present a mini-session this year:

Keep Fit and TpT: My Story

TPT creators who work full-time creating resources often gain weight sitting in front of a computer screen for hours with little or no exercise, sometimes eating mindlessly from stress. I will present ways you can stay healthy, even lose weight, and still create great resources, revise older products, keep up with SEO and product descriptions, and stay on top of social media.

My mini-session is for: All Teacher-Authors

My mini-session is 30 minutes long and will run on:

Tuesday, July 18th: 11 a.m - 11:30 a.m.

I hope you can attend. If you have been following my posts on social media, I lost a hundred pounds in the last year while doing TPT full-time, and I am excited to share with you some of the things I have learned along the way that may help you stay healthy and better focused on being a TPT author! I see so many products being sold out there for healthy eating, energy, and weight loss...but really, I don't think you need any of them. You can eat healthy and actually save money doing it! I will focus on useful tools for staying on track, healthy eating options, and how to squeeze exercise into the day while still working on the computer. I will also have some great tips from Carol Nieckula Beaumont from The Teacher Team, She has tons of tips and ideas for home things that can be done without equipment from her years at Crossfit and Fit Body Bootcamp. So if you come to California, I would love to see you.

So, exciting, right! I have so much to celebrate! Springtime, the conference, and yes, my birthday is this month, too! I think it is time for a giveaway.

Some of my teacher friends have joined me to celebrate. We are giving away Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards!

And not just one....TWO $50 gift cards to TpT!!! The contest will start on Wednesday, March 22 and run through March 26. The entry window isonly open until 12 am EST 3/27, so don't delay entering!

Are you ready to enter to win a $50 TpT Gift Card?

You have several chances to win if you enter these 2 rafflecopters!

Be sure to follow what the entry question asks you to do...if selected as a winner and you did not answer the question you will be disqualified! If you are asked to follow someone on TPT and you are already a follower, don't despair...find them on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest and follow them there. Then indicate where you followed them to qualify. Thanks!

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Well, my move across the country is about complete. I flew back to Georgia in January and spent about two weeks finishing packing, putting things in storage, and getting our house ready to rent! Yay! All done, flew back to Washington and the house is up for rent!

Of course, the weather in Washington is a bit different than what I am used to, but still love it!

Now I can begin to concentrate on creating again!

You probably already know that Teacherspayteachers.com is having their big site wide sale today and tomorrow, and you can save up to 28% off with the code LOVETPT at checkout.

You may not already know that you can win big by entering this awesome giveaway to have a chance at four prizes of $50 in TPT gift cards! Winners will get their prizes in time to shop the sale tomorrow. So enter now, because it ends at 11:59 P.M. EST tonight!

Saturday, December 31, 2016

I have been pretty silent lately, but holidays and moving across the country doesn't allow much time to blog. I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas, and that you have a wonderful New Year 2017!

I wanted to let you know that a group of teachers I collaborate with have put together a big dollar deal sale today, all day New Year's Eve. You can find some amazing deals, but only for a little while longer. You can find, for instance, my popular Polar Bear PowerPoint, on sale for only a dollar...which is 75% off! You can find all the great deals here.

Friday, November 25, 2016

I know I didn't post much about Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, right after Veterans Day, my whole family came down with the flu. It has taken us down. My five year old grandson Carter missed three days of school, including all Thanksgiving festivities, and slept through Thanksgiving dinner. He has been the sickest of us all, with his temperature spiking sometimes to 104. Poor little guy. My son cooked everything himself, since he seemed to be over the virus, and he did an amazing job. He cooked two turkeys, because someone gifted him one on Wednesday night in the grocery store. Now we honestly can't eat two turkeys, so he actually made a feast for our neighbors, too. If you have been following my on Facebook (The HappyEdugator) or Instagram (happyedugator) you may have seen the photos of his amazing apple pie! Connect with me there if you want to see snippets of fun moments in my life. :) Even when I am sick, I can still snap a photo or post a link to a quick sale in my TPT store.

Now, it is hard to believe the holidays are upon use. I am still sniffling and coughing, but at least I am feeling a little bit better and can get up out of bed this morning. No, I am not a Black Friday person. I tried that one year. I ran to several stores at 5 a.m. one Black Friday to get the deals. Later that afternoon, exhausted, all the stores I visited had extended their deals...I could have stayed in bed and got the exact same discounts! So, I am not going to fight crowds, burn gas, and otherwise stress myself out. I am going to stay home, cozy with a cup of coffee, warm by the fire, recover quietly from the crud, and let the madness go on without me. After all, I can look forward to Cyber Monday!

I am excited to share that I have been working on updating resources in my TPT store, and I know you are going to love the improvements. However, I have over 1100 resources, so even if I updated 3 per day, it would take me three years to update everything! So, if you find an older resource, please be patient. One update I worked on this past weekend was on my featured freebie...so if you already have downloaded it, please stop by my store and download the updated version. I have added slides, information, graphics...I think you will enjoy the latest version...and if you don't already have it, you may want to download it and check it out:

Now, I probably don't have to remind you that TPT is having their Cyber Sale this Monday and Tuesday, November 28th and 29th, 2016. My entire store will be on sale at 20% off, and with the TPT promo code CYBER2016, you can save an additional 10% off at checkout! HOWEVER, if you can't wait until Monday, my store will go on sale Sunday! So you can get great deals before you head back to school Monday. Just head to my TPT store here:

I am working on adding some new products this week, so this would be a great time to scoop up a steal, since all new products are 50% off for the first 48 hours! If you teach grades 4 - 8, you may be interested in this poetry product:

Look for more coming soon! Just let me get over this flu! :) I am also involved in a cross country move, from near Jacksonville, Florida to Seattle, Washington. We drove across the country in October, but I have to fly back and work on our house for a couple of weeks to get it ready for the market. So I am going to be extra busy this season, and I may not be able to post much here on the blog. Please connect with me on Facebook, though, because if I have any sales or specials, I will post them on my page.